Sometimes Diabetes Takes Center Stage

Admiring Differences

May 9, 2011

Admiring Differences: Let’s talk about how great it is to learn from the perspectives of those unlike us! Pick a type of blogger who is different from you and tell us why they inspire you- why you admire them – why it’s great that we’re all the same but different.

When I first started blogging, I wanted nothing to do with other types of blogs except those of people with T1. At that time, I was finally starting to take control of my D life, and I didn’t really have space for other types. Especially parents of children with Type 1.

I had been dealing with burnout off and on since I started college in 2003. And my parents supported me the whole time (not having burnout, but, you understand). And I don’t know how many times I heard “what was your last reading” “did you test before you ate that” “when’s the last time you exercised” etc etc. And my favorite has always been “it isn’t that hard to test.” That’s true, its not. But it is easy to forget and it is easy to just not care sometimes. And it’s especially easy to not care when I had no motivation. Sure, there was the high A1Cs and the hospital stays, but the day to day motivation just wasn’t there. When I started my blog, my internal motivation was finally there. And that made all the difference in the world. But I couldn’t read the parent blogs. It was as though if I read the parent blogs, then I was okay-ing nagging. And I hated the nagging. (I still get asked the questions all the time, but now that I am caring about my D, they seem less accusatory.)

As time has gone on, I’ve become more and more open to the D Mom Blogs. And especially how they compare to what my mom must have been feeling like. We didn’t test a million times per night, but I’m sure she still felt the stress of taking care of me. I started slowly with the blogs. First it was Candy Hearts, and it stayed there for a long time. But then I added Sugar Kids, D-Mom Blog, and D-Dad. As time goes on, I’m more open to D Parent Blogs. They help me find perspective. Especially to know how it is that I have become an adult with T1, and all that that took.

Thank you Karen for setting up DBlog Week!If you want to see who other people admire, go here!

Advertisements

Rate this:

Share this:

Like this:

Related

Thank you for this, Briley. I was the same way for awhile, and found the thought of reading the D-Parent blogs a little out there. Not what I was after in joining this community, because I was looking for those who are “like me” and “get it” from this perspective. But time went on and hearing more of those insights and perspectives only makes us better, and I changed my views. Now, I can't imagine my D-Life and DOC involvement without the experience of having that insight from these superheroes.

As hard as it is to have Type 1 Diabetes, having a child with Type 1 is harder. Everybody has “something.” Yours was diabetes and ours was having a child with diabetes. All we ever wanted was to have diabetes rather than you. There are so many basics we said to you growing up:You can do anything you want in life, as long as you take care of your diabetes.You may “hate” us now, but our goal is to have a 30 year old, that says thank you. You will always be our child. (Hence the questions and reminders)Do not fight diabetes, it will always win.We love you so much,